Socorro County, NM Shrink-Swell Risk

Socorro County, NM's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Socorro County, NM: USDA's soil survey rates 74.3% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.17% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

What Socorro County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Socorro County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Socorro County.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Socorro County, NM rating "Low", a geotechnical report is still worthwhile before a build, just less urgent than in a high-risk county. A geotechnical report runs $1,000-$5,000, typically around $2,700. Foundation repair, if a specific lot turns out to differ from the county average, runs $5,000-$15,000.

How Socorro County, NM compares

Nationally, Socorro County, NM is the 1,830-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New Mexico alone it ranks 30 of 32. Socorro County covers 6,646 square miles and counts 15,967 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Owen County, IN and Osage County, OK are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · Moisture management: the cheap fix that works on any soil

More of New Mexico

Every county in New Mexico is on this site, including Guadalupe County, NM and Bernalillo County, NM. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.